This old lady
by Evil Fuzzy Bunny
Summary: When Sasuke betrayed the village and things started going crazy, do you know what Naruto was doing before he left for the retrieval mission? It really started when he was six.Just once more i suppose,just to make sure you've still got it.
1. Chapter 1

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It really started when he was six years old. He was practicing at the school training ground; he had completely exhausted himself and fell asleep. The ground had been wet, and it was raining hard. Well, what did you expect? It _was_ spring after all.

Naruto had woken up to find a lady staring down at him. When he was fully awake he realized she was staring at him, he stared back curiously. It wasn't that he thought she was pretty, though she was, especially for her age; though no one could tell you what her _real _age was.

No, he was just staring, and she stared back. He was wondering if this lady was going to do something. She was just standing there, an umbrella in her hand, wearing an old style kimono. The lady then smiled and started walking away from him. It was in fact, that she was just curious why a boy would still be out here at his school, of all places, she found her answer after staring in his eyes.

Naruto had watched her retrieving figure, then for the first time, he heard her voice. It wasn't that her voice was beautiful, like an angel, it was what she said.

"Do you like shougi?"

He had, though he still doesn't know why, followed the old lady to her home. It turned out to be a small shrine by a waterfall. She, the lady that is, had started walking up the steps to the sliding door.

Naruto had then remembered the question she had asked him. He did not actually _know_ how to _play_ shougi, but had heard of it. The woman had started opening the door to her home when she asked another question.

"Would you like to learn how to play shougi?"

Naruto did not know what was so interesting about a game board that made this lady speak of nothing but it, when on rare occasion she did decided to speak. He did not know why she had invited him in, and really, neither did the lady.

To them, the other person was just a person, inside their world.

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_Yeah...I go inspired by this song..._


	2. Chapter 2

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When Naruto was seven he began to understand shougi a bit more, and was beginning to see why Shikamaru liked it so much. It was probably the only thing he did _not_ call troublesome.

The lady, he had now known for a year or so, had not spoken a word after that day. Naruto did not seem to mind her silence, she held something peaceful around her, maybe, it was her scent of rainwater.

He did know how to play shougi then, and he's still not very good at it, but the lady never said anything. She had not taught him how to play the game, but instead had simply taken out the board, set-up the pieces and made the first move and then waited, until it was her turn.

They always played in her back porch, where you could see the waterfall more clearly. At first the water noises made it hard for him to concentrate on playing, though back then he was still trying to figure out what to do. After a while the waterfall noise made it easier for him to concentrate, maybe that why the lady liked it too.

Iruka, his teacher, sometimes offered to take him for some ramen at a place called Ichiraku. On those days, he did not visit the shougi lady, that's what he called her since he not figured out her name.

Though, every time he came to her home, he always found the front door open, and you could see from the from that the lady was at the back porch. She would be sitting there, the shougi board ready, and had already made the first move.

He did not know why he kept coming here to play a silly game. He would never call it that in front of Shikamaru.

The lady had never told him, why she let him inside her house, unlike most. Despite his questions, she never said anything to answer them, or to least acknowledge them. Naruto, who does not like it when people ignore him, never seemed to mind, despite how much he wanted answers.

It looked liked, that the lady just wanted a partner to play shougi with. Naruto was fine with that. So when Naruto turned eight, he stopped asking questions.

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	3. Chapter 3

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When he turned nine, Naruto realized that as he grew older, so did the lady, but she still managed to look beautiful.

He had only seen her in town once every now and then in all the years that he's known him. That was when he she had crossed paths with a Hokage at a park. She bowed in respect and the hokage nodded.

Naruto had been hiding behind a tree at the time watching the small conversation. He thought that maybe, he should not be eavesdropping. They were talking about shougi, Naruto was not surprised in the least. The shougi lady, loved the game more than anything else.

"I hear you have a new shougi partner." Sarutobi said, Naruto had been hoping that he would say her name. He didn't know that Sarutobi does not know her name.

The lady nodded smiling. "How is your new partner doing?"

She stayed silent, considering answering that question. After a little while she said nothing but smiled even wider. She bowed once more and left the hokage as he was.

He was looking at her retrieving figure and smiled, chuckling. He had decided that today he would visit the school, to see how the students there were doing.

That was about the time Naruto had realized that he should be in school, he started running deciding to take a short-cut. Iruka-sensei would be mad if he was late, and he was getting treated to ramen today.

On his way home from the ramen place, he noticed the Hokage still walking through the streets, smiling. People had said to him that being a hokage is a tough job and that you're always busy. That's why he did not understand why the hokage had been walking around town all day, maybe it was his day off?

He noticed the shougi lady walking through town also, he hid behind a barrel at the side of the street and watched them cross paths again. This time neither of them had stopped.

The shougi lady spoke as she walked past him. "He learns quick, maybe even quicker than when you use to play, _Sarutobi._"

Naruto had never heard anyone call the old man by anything but 'hokage-sama', so he was surprised to hear the lady say that.

"Though sometimes eavesdrops on my conversations, reminds you of a little boy I once knew." She said chuckling, Naruto had figured that the little boy she once knew, was the Hokage. Sarutobi just chuckled continuing his way.

He also realized that she knew he had been eavesdropping. It was like she always knew what he was doing or what he was about to do, just like when they played shougi.

So by the time he turned ten, when he saw her having a form of conversation with someone, he went the opposite way, even if it meant Iruka would be mad at him for being late.

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	4. Chapter 4

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By the time he was eleven he knew shougi enough to play with Shikamaru from time to time. He had never said anything to anyone about the lady, it seemed wrong to talk about her. It was like a silent agreement, that he would not mention her to anyone.

He had realized that she use to know the Hokage when he was a child, and she had known him until he was a ninja. So when he became genin, and to chuunin, anyone could have figured out that he was much to busy to visit her, though he came time to time.

Naruto wondered that when he became a ninja, would that mean that he could not visit her anymore too?

He had one day asked her this question but the lady said nothing and made the first move on the game board. He had after a while stopped asking that question too. It was obvious that she was not thinking about that at the moment, so he had decided not to think about it either. That was the end of that.

He did not know if the lady knew that though he came all the time to play shougi with her, he did not like to play shougi. He did not know why he came all the time to play but he did anyways.

Naruto just didn't see what was so interesting about shougi, and thought that he probably never would. So he stopped trying to figure it out, but every time he got close to figuring it out, he couldn't help but go all the way but he always ended up in a dead end.

In all the years he's known the shougi lady, he knows she not one to start a conversation or to continue one, but she does know how to end one.

She had never asked Naruto if he wanted to play, if he liked to play or if he would always play. She had never asked him why he came all the time, how he's doing in school, if he has any friends or what he wants to be when he grows up.

She had never asked him anything except 'do you like shougi?' and 'would you like to learn hot to play?'.

So when he was leaving one day, it was surprise to hear her ask him anything or to start a conversation.

"Why do you like to play shougi?" She asked him.

He turned towards her and just shrugged. "I don't know."

She had started cleaning up the pieces of the game board then. "I like to play…because it makes me feel like I have control over something." She asked something else before she stopped talking again. "Do you know why you come here?"

Naruto had not really understood what she had said that day and had not understood for quite sometime. He didn't know why he came there all the time, at least it seemed like he came there all the time.

He couldn't remember anymore, every time he played shougi he lost track of time, but it didn't matter. When he played, it felt like he knew what he was doing even if he lost every game. Every time he played, it felt like he was getting better and it made him feel better, it gave him confidence.

So when he turned twelve and became a ninja, he had stopped coming to the shougi lady's house. When he came back from the wave country he had forgotten to visit here. When the chuunin exams began, he became too occupied with training and passing the exams. When he met Orochimaru, he was too busy fighting to remember shougi.

When Sasuke betrayed the village and he was to retrieve him. Everything seemed to keep going out of control and he felt like had no control, felt insecure, didn't have a clue what he was doing.

Naruto sat down on the polished wood, he could here the waterfall, and he could smell her rainwater scent. "Hmmm? ...Have you come then?"

Can you guess what he did before he left for the retrieval mission?

Naruto took a deep breath and made the first move. She picked up a piece and made her move. "Just one more game I suppose, just to make sure you've still got it."

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_I called it "this old lady" because it seemed to fit and it's about an old lady that eaches him how to play shougi._


End file.
